Weekly Message

Click Here for Weekly 10/21 Dolphin News

Dear Ocean Shore Families,
 
Happy Friday! I hope you have a great weekend.  It was awesome to see so many families at the PEFathon last weekend.  I have exciting news… Ocean Shore School won the GOLDEN SHOE award for our school participation.  Thanks to the support from everyone who attended, PEF raised over $10,000 to fund education programs across our district!
 
This weekend I am excited to visit my first Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay.  I hear from my neighbors that it gets pretty busy around town, but I am excited to attend.  I love the season of fall!
 
Reflections: 
As you know, this week we participated in a safety drill as part of the Great California Shakeout.  I can’t tell you how impressed I was with our students and staff who responded so promptly and took great care to follow the “Drop, Cover and Hold On” protocol.  It was apparent to all of the staff how our students took the occasion to handle the drill with great intention.  As I walked and talked with students afterward, they were excited to have something new in their daily routine, and felt like they knew what to do in such a situation. 
 
I also appreciate each family’s participation with our communication system and taking an opportunity to reflect on your safety preparedness at home.  Students were given “homework” to talk with their family about what to do at home if there were an earthquake or natural disaster.  Growing up in Wisconsin, I recall memories of anticipating tornadoes and how scary that felt as a child.  In reflecting now as an adult, I appreciate how valuable it was for me as a child to learn about preparedness at home.  My parents spent a lot of time to teach my brother and I about how to take precautions if we had to huddle in the basement.  While frightening, it gave me more confidence to respond in the face of a disaster knowing that I knew what to do. 
 
I don’t know about you, but it seems like there seems to be a lot of scary things happening in our world today.  From natural disasters like earthquakes and wildfires to school shootings, our school community faces important questions about how to best prepare for the unthinkable events.  As a staff, we have talked about how we can direct their conversations in appropriate ways to make children feel comfortable in the midst of uncertainty. We will continue to practice different drills throughout the year, and look for ways to share this training with parents. 
 
Take a moment to look at a few resources that you might find useful to help adults guide children to better understand trauma.  
 
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/aftermath.aspx
 
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/talking-to-children.aspx
 
School Site Council Parent Representatives:  Are you interested in serving as a parent member on our School Site Council?  Please let me know if you are (email or stop by the office to leave a message).  Our first meeting is in a few weeks, and we would love to have you join the committee to help us calibrate our school goals with the LCAP and site funding! 

Weekly Podcast:  Take a moment to listen to the latest episode and hear from student voices about what is happening at Ocean Shore!  

Click HERE for the latest episode:  


Staff Makin’ Waves:
Check out our “Staff of the Week” posted below! 

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